HC Christmas Day downloads top 100,000

Over 100,000 HarperCollins UK e-books were downloaded on Christmas Day, the publisher has announced.

HarperCollins said the figure, which covers UK and international...

Over 100,000 HarperCollins UK e-books were downloaded on Christmas Day, the publisher has announced.

HarperCollins said the figure, which covers UK and international territories including Australia and New Zealand, but not the US, was a record high and an increase of over 600% on the daily average title download during the previous month.

The most popular titles downloaded were George R R Martin's Game of Thrones, Confessions of a GP by Dr Benjamin Daniels and Twelve Days of Christmas by romantic comedy novelist Trisha Ashley. Sanctus by Simon Toyne and Midnight by Josephine Cox were also among the strong sellers.

HarperCollins Group digital director David Roth-Ey said put the rise down to e-readers and tablets becoming a "must-have gift" this Christmas. The publisher brought several new e-books out in the run-up to December 25th, including a series of digital-only short stories, 12 Days of Winter by the Stuart MacBride, which were released individually between the 1st and 12th December.